Catalog Number: 23106 ID: 191

Video

reviews

Repertoire

1. Michelle 2. Lullabye 3. Blackbird 4. And So It Goes 5. With A Little Help From My Friends 6. Misschien niet de eeuwigheid 7. Omarm 8. Dansen aan zee 9. Londonderry Air10. The Oak and the Ash11. Molly Malone12. Ca' the yowes13. The Turtle Dove14. Hey Jude15. If I Fell16. A Groovy Kind of Love17. And I Love Her

In Love (2006)

The Gents

Peter Dijkstra

It gives me great pleasure to present this album, which appears in response to repeated requests. At last we have taken the opportunity to record this repertoire. How often we have had to disappoint members of the audience when we tell them that, unfortunately, there are no recordings available for the arrangements of Billy Joel's Lullabye or Toni Wine's A Groovy Kind of Love. Here they are at last!Also included are three beautiful songs from the popular Dutch group BLF.

The goal of this album is to evoke the simple joy of singing. In my opinion, it is this quality which, in addition to or even in spite of our attempts at perfection and flexibility, is the most important to convey to an audience, and it is a quality which The Gents always try to express.

Peter Dijkstra

Read more

The Gents

The Gents is a unique, all-male Dutch vocal ensemble which, in a very short period, obtained a prominent position on the international music scene. This group of young singers is praised for its characteristic sound, its flexibility, and its unequalled interpretation of a very divergent vocal repertoire. The Gents have their roots in The Roden Boys' Choir, considered one of the Netherlands' top boys' choirs, and inherited its quality and professionalism. Conductor Peter Dijkstra founded the group in 1999. He was the artistic leader / conductor of the ensemble until 2007 and is now its first guest-conductor. As from August 2008, Béni Csillag is the conductor of the ensemble. Regardless of the music they perform - be it religious music from the Renaissance, romantic English music, contemporary jazz arrangements, pop songs, or works that have been specifically composed for the ensemble - the concerts of The Gents are always an extraordinary experience. As a result, they can count on an enthusiastic audience and good reviews in the press. The Gents have also acquired an international reputation. They have performed in Japan, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Spain. In April 2005, The Gents made their first concert tour in Japan. At the invitation of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan, they performed at the World Expo in Aichi in front of an audience of 5000 people, including Dutch and Japanese royals. Its overwhelming success made the Gents decide to make a second Japan tour in 2006.

Peter Dijkstra

Peter Dijkstra,born in the Netherlands in1978,is one of the leading choral conductors of our time.He comes from a musical family,and as a boy soprano he was in demand as a soloist, for example in opera productions such as Die Zauberflöte with The Netherlands Opera.He studie dchoral and orchestral conducting and voice at the conservatories of The Hague,Cologne and Stockholm,and graduated with honours.Peter Dijkstra was awarded the Kersjes-Van de Groene kam Prize for orchestral conductors in2002,and when he went on to win the Eric Ericson Award 2003 in Stockholm his international career was launched.He now works regularly with choirs such as The Netherlands Chamber Choir,bbc Singers, rias Chamber Choir Berlin,CollegiumVocale Gent and The Danish Radio Choir.Dijkstra is in command of a broad repertoire ranging from early music to premiers of newly composed works.But he is also a welcome guest conductor with orchestras like the SymphonyOrchestra of the Bavarian Radio,Munich RadioOrchestra, dso Berlin,Sinfonietta Amsterdam,Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra and the JapanPhilharmonic.He also enjoys working with period instrument orchestras such as the Akademiefu?r Alte Musik Berlin and Concerto Köln. In 2005,Peter Dijkstra was appointed artistic director of the Choir of the Bavarian Radio inMunich,where he collaborates with conductors including Mariss Jansons,Nikolaus Harnoncourt,Riccardo Muti and Claudio Abbado.

De Gelderlander

Audiophile Audition

interesting modern arrangements on all 17 songs. The harmonic arrangements of the Gents reminded me a bit of a larger version of the Hi-Los of many years ago. They obviously find great joy in singing these tunes, making even overly familiar ones such as Londonderry Air take on a fresh and earnest cast that keeps up a listener's interest. There's a number of Beatles tunes here and I found them quite free of the often boring quality of other vocal performers covering Beatles' tunes. Another amazing thing about this album is that this ensemble is not a professional choir - it's merely an avocation for all its members, who include a hotel manager, law student, psychologist, deacon and physiotherapist among them!